Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said that she draws on her her Catholic faith in her denouncement of Jew-hatred on Sunday night, when the Chabad of Stamford, Conn., gave her its Eishet Chayil Award.
The award is named for the poem about the “wife of valor,” sometimes translated as the “woman of valor,” that many Jews sing prior to the meal on Friday night.
The congresswoman told those assembled at the Chabad that she wanted to reflect “during this most holy time of year from my Catholic faith.”
“I am what’s considered a cradle Catholic—a lifelong sister in faith to my Jewish brothers and sisters,” she said.
“During this holy time of Lent as we await and pray for Easter Sunday, I wanted to share the recent statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,” she added. “‘If we Catholics, in truly living out the Gospel, are to defend religious freedom with integrity, we must clearly speak out against antisemitism. As Catholics, we are called to walk in the truth, and so to reject the conspiracies and lies that lead to harassment and even violence against our Jewish brothers and sisters.’”
Every Easter, Stefanik said that she shares a message from Pope John Paul II, whom she called “one of the greatest leaders not only in my Catholic faith but one of the greatest moral leaders of the 20th century.” The pope “stood strongly against antisemitism at a time when it was perhaps most existential,” she said.
“He declared, ‘Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and Hallelujah is our song,’” Stefanik said. “During this holy time of Easter and Passover, we will not abandon ourselves to despair. We celebrate our faiths with joy, hope, faith and renewal, and we proudly stand with you, our Jewish brothers and sisters, to celebrate light over darkness and everlasting life.”
